$12.2 million Crown Valley project winding up

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The two latest phases of the Crown Valley Parkway/I-5 Widening Project will be done by the end of March, according to Laguna Niguel Director of Public Works and City Engineer Dave Rogers.

To date, the project has cost the city $12.2 million, said Steve Erlandson, director of finance for the city. Phase 1, coming in at $9.7 million,widened eastbound Crown Valley Parkway to four continuous lanes from Forbes Road to the northbound I-5 and added two dedicated right turn lanes onto the south and northbound ramps. Phase 2, adding up to $2.5 million, widened Crown Valley Parkway eastbound from Cabot Road to Forbes Road.

But the city won't end up bearing all that cost—it will be split between the OCTA, the city of Mission Viejo, and the city of Laguna Niguel. For Phase 1$5.1 million of Measure M funds from the OCTA covered a little over 50 percent, with Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel splitting the rest. For Phase 2, OCTA Measure M covered $1.46 million, with Laguna Niguel covering the other 50 percent.

So what's left to do? Phase 1, which began in July 2011, is "substantially complete," Rogers said, with slight relocation of signs and a Caltrans safety review left, since the project involves the freeway. Phase 2, in the works since May 2012, still has some "minor construction" left, Rogers said, but for the most part is done.

In the future if funding is available, the plan is to also widen the westbound lanes of Crown Valley Parkway from the freeway past Cabot Road, Rogers said.

The project was projected to be done by December and estimates came in at $11.3 million in 2012, but some changes to the project and inclement weather have delayed the work—though it's not an unusual delay, Rogers said.

"We're basically on schedule and pretty close to budget," Rogers said. "They're actually on schedule for the most part if you account for rain days and changes the city made."

Such changes, for example, included planting vines to soften the roadway's appearance in areas along Phase 2, or having to relocate a Moulton Niguel waterline that intersected with a planned catch basin for the new storm drain system.

Overall, it's a relief to be at the final stages of a project that was conceptualized since 2006 when the city originally applied for grant funding from the OCTA, Rogers said. The widening has resulted in "dramatic change" to traffic flow. Rogers added the project will allow some additional capacity in anticipation of traffic changes to come with implementation of urban features, such as the possibility of up to 3,000 new apartments and condos, in the Gateway Specific Plan.

"I think it's turned out exactly like we had hoped in that we think it's going to make a huge difference in terms of moving traffic more efficiently, getting people to the freeway, the mall, the hospital," Rogers said. "I think we're going to end up with a much better traffic flow and less congestion through that area."

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